The big news of this year’s offseason has been the Lamar Jackson drama. The quarterback has been making his demands in terms of how much money he wants in his contract. However, the tussle between him and the Baltimore Ravens hasn’t led to anything fruitful. There has only been hurt for the poor bystanders, the Ravens’ fans. They’ve been demanding the return of their MVP quarterback. However, that doesn’t seem to be happening. Jackson seems to be moving away and away. However, Marcellus Wiley’s podcast might reveal a way through which he can get a good amount of money and still be the hero for the Ravens’ fans.
The ex-NFL All-Pro suggested an interesting method, citing the example of Kirk Cousins and his older contract that helped him earn massive amounts of money. In his time, Cousins was able to beat out contracts as big as Mahomes’ as well as Prescott’s contract. However, will this technique work for him?
What is this suggestion that Lamar Jackson should look into?
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It is obvious that Jackson has a huge bond with the city of Baltimore and the Ravens’ organization. However, the only problem that has risen between the two is the problem of Jackson’s contract. With the contract posing the biggest problem, Marcellus Wiley seems to have come up with an interesting solution. He cited the example of Kirk Cousins. Cousins was a quarterback, who signed a huge contract, that in the short run, gave him a huge salary. One that beat out the immediate contracts of players like Mahomes and Prescott.
Wiley suggested that instead of bringing in the non-exclusive franchise tag, Jackson could’ve taken in the exclusive tag and made his way from there. He could have demanded the year’s worth of money that his guaranteed contract would pull and play to prove his worth to the team. As Wiley said, “So if you franchise tag it franchise tag it and go out there and play and ball out yo there is money at the end there is a pot of gold at the end of that tunnel.” He once again cited Kirk Cousins as an example for taking a guaranteed amount of money that he would be offered through the franchise tag.
Interestingly, Cousins’ example involved him signing one of the biggest guaranteed contracts that the NFL has ever seen. His story was somewhat similar to Jackson’s story.
The story behind Kirk Cousins’ contract
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When Cousins was playing at his peak for the Washington Redskins, he was tagged by the franchise. The franchise tagged him with a one-year contract of approximately $24 million. This happened before the 2017 season. After that, Cousins went on to have one of the best seasons he’s ever had. After such a brilliant season, the demand for Cousins rose immensely.
The quarterback then received an enormous contract from the Minnesota Vikings that offered him a 3 year fully guaranteed contract for a total sum of $84 million. This made his yearly salary a whopping $28 million. At the time, this meant that he was one of the highest QBs in the league. Furthermore, this is precisely what Wiley was suggesting to Jackson.
While he might have to play one more year with a contract he isn’t happy with, his positive performance with the Ravens would mean a bigger quarterback value. In light of how many teams have refused to sign him, this would be a logical course for Jackson. It only remains to be seen if he takes this step and plays the long game.
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